Van Gogh's Influence On Other Artists

The years go by, but Van Gogh's influence on the art world remains undoubted

On a day like today, exactly 171 years ago, one of the great geniuses of the visual arts world, Vincent Van Gogh, was born in Zundert (Netherlands). Unfortunately, he never knew that his work was going to triumph and become one of the most highly valued in the art world. On the contrary, his brother bought his paintings, making believe that he had other buyers, Van Gogh found out and went completely mad.

But almost two centuries after his birth, the great exponent of post-impressionism continues to inspire and influence painters all over the world with his work. Today, in commemoration of the anniversary of his birth, we take a look at artists who have shown Van Gogh's influence throughout his career.

Yayoi Kusama

The renowned Japanese artist, famous for her installations and artworks based on repetitive patterns in which dots predominate, has been influenced by Van Gogh's work, especially his exploration of colour and nature. Her series of paintings Infinity Nets, with their repeating dot patterns, can be considered a contemporary reinterpretation of Van Gogh's technique.

Dorothea Lange

Photographer Dorothea Lange, known for her documentation of the Great Depression, has expressed that Van Gogh's raw emotion and empathy for the underprivileged, as shown in his painting The Potato Eaters, influenced her own photographic work.

Peter Doig

This contemporary painter, born in Scotland and known for his surrealist landscapes, has been compared to Van Gogh in terms of style and approach to nature. His painting Pelican (2004) features a colour palette similar to that used by Van Gogh, as well as expressive brushstrokes reminiscent of the style of the post-impressionist master.

David Hockney

This renowned British artist, known for his paintings and digital artworks, has expressed his admiration for Van Gogh on several occasions. Hockney has cited Van Gogh as one of his influences, especially in terms of his use of colour and depiction of nature. His work Mulholland Drive: The Road to the Studio (1980) shows an obvious influence of the Dutch painter's use of colour and composition.

Egon Schiele

Sunflowers have always been one of Van Gogh's characteristic elements, so it is inevitable to be reminded of the Dutch artist when looking at Egon Schiele's painting Sunflowers, which shows a withered plant, not as vivid as Van Gogh's, but with a very similar perspective and colours.

Father of expressionism

In general, the influence of Van Gogh's painting has crossed many stages of art and some experts in this field have even crowned him as the father of artistic trends such as Expressionism. Artists such as Gustav Klimt and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner undoubtedly took Van Gogh as a point of reference for the creation of their works. The impact of the Dutch painter was manifested not only in the use of a vibrant brushstroke, very bright colours and shapes defined by a line, but also in the way of representing genres such as landscape, portraiture or even self-portraits, such as those painted by Richard Gerstl and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, in which it is impossible not to see Van Gogh's imprint.

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